Leander, dazzled by so much splendour, did not at first perceive that
there was no one awaiting him in this beautiful apartment, but when he
had recovered from his first feeling of astonishment, and realized that
he was alone, he proceeded to take off his cloak and lay it, with his
hat and sword, on a chair in one corner, after which he deliberately
rearranged his luxuriant ringlets in front of a Venetian mirror, and
then, assuming his most graceful and telling pose, began pouring forth
in dulcet tones the following monologue: "But where, oh! where, is the
divinity of this Paradise? Here is the temple indeed, but I see not the
goddess. When, oh! when, will she deign to emerge from the cloud that
veils her perfect form, and reveal herself to the adoring eyes, that
wait so impatiently to behold her?" rolling the said organs of vision
about in the most effective manner by way of illustration.
Just at that moment, as if in response to this eloquent appeal, the
crimson silk hanging, which fell in front of a door that Leander had not
noticed, was pushed aside, and the lady he had come to seek stood before
him; with the little black velvet mask still over her face, to the great
disappointment and discomfiture of her expectant suitor.
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